Living Dreams
by Orli's Personal Pirate
Summary: Legolas' father wants him to marry, now. But Legolas isn't really into that, and it might be kind of hard when an enemy of his is meanwhile trying to seek revenge on him and his friends by bringing their greatest fears to life. CHAP 4 IS UP! Mary's fear..
1. 5 maidens, 5 months

Disclaimer- I don't own anyone except Marial Athome and Daniella Spellding, All the other characters either belong to JRR Tolken. Ok I am saying this now, I have horrible grammar. If it is going to bother you then just don't read this story. Oh and Ada is 'Father' in elvish. Takes place a few years before the fellowship.  
  
Chapter one:  
  
"This is insane!" Legolas Greenleaf raged, his usually calm manor replaced by an angry look. "5 Maidens! 5 months!" He turned to his two best friends, Aragorn son of Arathorn and Daniella Spellding, both humans raised in Rivendell. They had come to Mirkwood in answer to their Elvin friend's plea.  
  
"Hold on sweetie, calm down" Daniella said, putting a hand on his shoulder. She was a pretty human with long brown hair and honey brown eyes to match. "Now would you please tell us why you practically begged us to come here straight away?"  
  
"Because Ada is driving me insane!" Legolas exploded  
  
"So?" Aragorn shrugged "Doesn't he always?" Daniella smacked Aragorns shoulder then looked at Legolas expectantly.  
  
"Ok" he said calmly "Well as you two know I broke to my father that a few months ago that I simply refused to marry Arwen-"  
  
"Arwen" Daniella said bitterly. She and Aragorn exchanged a glance and shuttered.  
  
"So," Legolas continued "Eventually my father conceded and our engagement was broken. Now my fathers on the warpath! He's now given up on Rivendell and wants me to marry a maiden from Lorien, to connect out two lands."  
  
"But Lorien doesn't have a princess" Aragorn pointed out.  
  
"I know, he's so desperate for me to marry that he doesn't care anymore. He's picked 5 maidens from 5 prominent Lorien families as candidates. Each maiden will spend a month here in Mirkwood with me. I have to pick one to be my bride or my father will pick one for me." Legolas said in despair "Girl number four should be here any minute now"  
  
"Number four?" Daniella repeated, confused. "Well how were the other three?"  
  
"Horrible" Legolas said bitterly "Their all the same! 'Hello prince Legolas, what a nice day Prince Legolas, dance with you? What an honor Prince Legolas!'" he mimicked "They all fawn over me!"  
  
"And that's..........bad" Aragorn said slowly. Legolas and Daniella glared at him. Legolas opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a horn of arrival.  
  
"She's here" he grimaced, "come with me, I have to greet her." The three friends made their way to the front entrance of Mirkwood palace where about a dozen elves were making their way towards the palace. Behind them, a jet black horse with a white diamond on its forehead bore a girl completely hidden by a hooded emerald green cloak. The horse was led by none other then Haldir of Lorien.  
  
"Haldir!" King Thranduil said "What brings you here?"  
  
"Well your latest girl here is a friend of mine and I wanted to see her off." Haldir said  
  
"Wonderful, you must stay a few days!" The Elvin king proclaimed. Haldir nodded thankfully then helped the girl off her horse.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Haldir said loudly "I present to you Miss Marial Athome. Legolas dutifully stepped forward and took her hand.  
  
"I am happy you are going to be spending the next month with us Lady Marial." He said politely.  
  
"Well I'm glad one of us is" Marial said, snatching back her hand. "And may I say what an honor it was to be forced here against my will." Everyone stared at the elf, especially Legolas whose deep blue eyes widened in shock.  
  
Ok what do you think? Ok the plot is not actually developed in this chapter but there actually is a plot! R/R! 


	2. plotting revenge

Disclaimer- I own nothing. Hello all, glad you liked the story. Arwen is a bit OCC in this story, well very OCC. Well here's the shout outs:  
  
DreaminofLorien: Glad you seem to like the story so much! Hope you keep reading!  
  
CherryFaerie: I'm hoping this will be a good story, I try to update often and since I have this story all written out updates should come fairly quickly.  
  
Legolas19: Oh it gets stranger..............lol just keep reading.  
  
Katja: The plot becomes a bit clearer in this chapter though not all the way clearer. It becomes obvious in chapter three. I didn't think my grammar was that bad either till people kept reviewing saying "Commas are your friends!"  
  
I-Love-Legolas: Glad you think its good! Keep reading!  
  
On with the chap!  
  
"Mary," Haldir said in a disapproving tone as he helped her unpack "What were we just talking about before we came here?"  
  
"I'm sorry Haldir" Mary sighed "but the way he told me he was 'happy I was here', a polite but bored tone he had probably used on all three maidens before me. I can't stand it!"  
  
"But Mary you were very rude" Haldir reminded her "You wouldn't want to bring shame to your family"  
  
"Haldir" Mary said quietly "I do not want him to pick me" Haldir gave her a sympathetic look and sat down next to her on her bed.  
  
"Mary you are one of my best friends, I care for you deeply" He said taking her hand in a brotherly way "That is why I am going to give you a warning. Your ice might appall and drive Legolas away for a while but you would be better off fawning over him. I know Legolas, he will be intrigued that you do not go out of your way for him and would enjoy the challenge if he ever found out you actually did not want to marry him" There was a knock on the door and a servant elf entered.  
  
"My lady," He said with a bow "I was told to escort you to the prince's chambers." With a sigh Marial got up and fallowed the elf out of the room.  
  
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"Who does this girl think she is?!" Legolas asked Daniella and Aragorn once they had returned back to his room. "She was so.........rude!"  
  
"Actually, I thought what she said was sort of admirable" Aragorn confessed "Besides, you said you didn't want someone who fawned over you"  
  
"Yes but she had the nerve to suggest that she didn't want to be here!"  
  
"Well what if she doesn't want to be here?" Daniella asked softly "You said it yourself, the five maidens were picked by their families. She could already be in love with someone else, or she could not want to get married at all! She was forced to come here."  
  
"Forced to come here and be a part of your sick contest to pick a bride" The three turned to see Marial entering the room. Now that she was no longer wearing her cloak they could see she was beautiful, as were the three maidens before her. She had shoulder length curly black hair and bright green eyes.  
  
"Marial" Legolas started  
  
"Call me Mary" Marial cut him off.  
  
"Fine" Legolas said "Mary, do you really think this was my idea? I can assure you I don't treat people this way. This was all my fathers' idea; I don't even want to get married!"  
  
"This...............this wasn't your idea?" Mary asked, feeling a little guilty.  
  
"No" Legolas sighed "So lets just try to make this month as friendly as possible so it will go quicker. This is Aragorn and Daniella by the way, my two best friends."  
  
"Hey" Aragorn said as Daniella gave her a warm smile.  
  
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'How touching' Arwen thought. She had just arrived at Mirkwood palace and didn't intend to stay more then a few hours. She had but one purpose here, revenge. Legolas had broken their engagement so suddenly and had embarrassed her name throughout middle earth. She had come here to seek vengeance on him for that, and how perfect, he had his two best friends and a potential bride with him. Well they can come along for the ride. Arwen wracked her brain, which was full of black magic and magical totems, trying to think of the perfect thing to use. Then, she knew.  
  
A/N Just a bit OCC hmm? R/R! 


	3. The first fear

Disclaimer- I don't own anything or anyone except Marial and the new, very annoying character that comes in this chap. A reminder that Arwen is a bit OCC, she's not really in this anymore anyway. Shoutouts to the only two people who reviewed the second chapter.  
  
April: Karissa you don't really count, but whatever. Yes I do hate Arwen. I needed someone evil in this anyway. Thanks for reviewing sweetie, the formal on Friday was awesome. Bye sweetie.  
  
Jegolas: Interesting name. I like it. I will try to update sooner. I figure you like it then? Thanks for reviewing.  
  
One more thing, this story gets a bit more serious in this chap. Don't let the drama get you down!  
  
Chapter three:  
  
"So bored," Daniella complained. It had been a week since Mary first arrived here, and it had rained everyday since. It had given them a chance to bond though. She was becoming fast friends with the rest of them, but by the seventh day it seemed they had done all there was to do inside.  
  
"Check the top shelf of my closet," Legolas said lazily "Maybe there's a board game up there or something." Sure enough, Mary came down holding a long, slender, brown box with weird gold inscriptions on the sides. "I don't remember seeing this game there before," Legolas said thoughtfully. Mary opened the box curiously and read the single sheet of directions inside.  
  
"The first and only step to this game is to each take one of the sheets of paper provided and draw out their worst fear in detail. Believe me; you'll know where to go from there. You do not have to show it to anyone, so be completely honest. The game will be more fun that way." The four glanced at each other unsurely.  
  
"This seems a little weird," Danielle finally said.  
  
"We've got nothing else to do," Aragorn reasoned. They each grabbed a sheet of paper and started to draw. Legolas went very pale as he placed his sheet in the center of the game board, Aragorn flushed bright red, Mary started taking deep breaths and Daniella shuddered violently. Once each placed their sheet in the center, the room went black.  
  
"What happened?" Daniella groaned, standing up.  
  
"Everybody OK?" Legolas called out nervously.  
  
"Legolas?" Mary asked "Was that you? I can't see a thing!" As if that was a cue the room lit up immediately. It looked like they were in a huge dining hall. A long, kingly table stretched out with rows and rows of empty chairs.  
  
"Where are we?" Aragorn asked. As is in answer to his question a giggle was heard from behind them. The four of them turned around to see a little blonde girl sitting at the head of the table. She couldn't be older then five.  
  
"Hello!" She called out.  
  
"Hello........." Mary called out "Um, what is your name honey?"  
  
"Does it matter?" The girl asked, giggling again.  
  
"Where are we?" Aragorn demanded "How did we get here?"  
  
"You're in the game!" The girl laughed.  
  
"What do you mean......in the game" Legolas asked her softly. The girls sharp blue eyes lingered on his face for a moment before turning to the rest of them.  
  
"One of you has an enemy," She said in a teasing voice. "They sent you this game, now none of you can leave until you face your fears."  
  
"Face our fears?" Daniella repeated. "What if we die?" The little girl started giggling again.  
  
"Oh no you won't die, never die." Suddenly the laughter died on her lips and the girl grew serious. "Although you can come awfully close, even feel what it's like to die." Everyone exchanged nervous glances and the girl smiled again. "I suggest you don't try to help each other, or else you'll just have to start over again." With that the girl disappeared, her laughter still echoing throughout the room. Suddenly they were standing in front of four large wooden doors.  
  
"Come on," Aragorn said bravely "Let's go through the first one." They hesitantly went through the door and entered a room full of knives, swords with jeweled hilts, and daggers with golden blades.  
  
"Who's is this?" Daniella asked  
  
"Mine," Legolas gulped. "I am an immortal, but I greatly fear death. To be stabbed repeatedly would be like reliving my own death over and over again. That is my worst fear." Suddenly, Daniella grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground, pinning him.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Marial screamed at her.  
  
"I......I can't help it!" Daniella cried, holding Legolas down as Aragorn picked up one of the knives and walked towards him.  
  
"Oh god," Aragorn said as he raised the knife high above Legolas' chest.  
  
"Aragorn, no!" Mary screamed, rushing forward.  
  
"Mary, don't!" Legolas said to her, though his eyes never left the blade. "We'll never get out of here unless we face our fears." Mary chocked back a sob and looked away as Aragorn brought down the knife an inch to the right of Legolas heart. Legolas screamed in pain and Daniella burst into tears.  
  
"Forgive me Mellon," Aragorn pleaded "I can help not what I do." Aragorn stabbed him again to right of the first stab. He created a circle of stab marks on Legolas' chest. Aragorn lifted the knife one final time, this time to plunge it into his best friend's heart. The elf had now gone pale and was losing blood fast. He coughed and more blood came up from his throat. Aragorn unwillingly plunged the knife once more, barely piercing his heart before............everything disappeared. The wounds, the blood, the room of blades, they all vanished. Daniella jumped off Legolas and Aragorn dropped the knife as if it had burnt him, which too vanished once hitting the floor. Daniella hugged the shaking elf tightly as a few tears slipped from his eyes.  
  
"Forgive me," Aragorn whispered, staring at his hands in disbelief. Legolas took a deep breath and sported a weak smile.  
  
"So," he said nervously, "next door?" 


	4. Cheater cheater

**Disclaimer- I do not own LOTR. Yes Aragorn and Arwen are in love but I really, really do not like Arwen at all so I decided to make her very OOC. Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've been away. A reviewer also pointed out to me I am putting a bit to much American Dialog in this story. I apologize; I'll try to watch that next time. On another note, Daniella and Mary are based on actual people, so their fears in this story are truly their worst.**

"Which one?" Daniella asked nervously

"How about that one?" Aragorn suggested, pointing to the one on the other end. They filed in one by one to find a gathering of people, dressed in black, mulling over a cemetery.

"Oh no," Mary groaned, backing up into Legolas.

"Yours?" he asked. Mary nodded and Legolas gave her a gentle push foreword.

"She was such a sweet person," a woman was crying.

"Mother?" Mary whispered, but her mother couldn't hear her. It seemed as if no one could see or hear any of them. A priest called to order and everyone started to sit down. Legolas, Daniella, and Aragorn sat in the front row while Mary went and stood behind the priest awkwardly.

"We are here today to mourn the death of Marial Athome," the priest was saying.

"I am alive!" Mary insisted. Suddenly what seemed like an invisible hand pushed Mary into the open casket behind her. "No!" She screamed as the priest closed the casket. Though Mary's three friends could still hear everyone of her screams the priest started to speak.

_"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,"_

"Somebody please help me!"

_I shall fear no evil in my path."_

"Legolas! Please someone save me!" Danielle burst into tears again as the casket was lowered into the ground. Aragorn turned away, but Legolas starred the whole time, ignoring every one of her pleas for help. Mary cried hysterically as she screamed for help, but the sounds were muffled because of all the dirt being poured on top of her coffin.

"Please," she whispered "don't let me die." After an hour the sounds of footsteps faded away and Mary suddenly knew, with a sick realization, that she was very much alone. "They left," she sobbed. The air was growing thin and Mary's heart constricted in her chest. With one last gasp of breath Mary's eyes rolled to the back of her head and….she was free. She was suddenly lying on the floor outside the four doors, crying hysterically still.

"Mary!" Daniella said, running over to her.

"I'm…I'm alright," Mary said taking deep breaths. Daniella and Aragorn even gave Mary a quick hug and went on to decide which door to pick next. Mary turned and met eyes with Legolas who had hung back.

"Are you alright?" he asked after a moment.

"I asked for help. I called for you and you didn't move," Mary accused.

"Mary,"

"I know you heard me!" She went on, "but you left me there to die!"

"Well in my defense you left me to die too!" Legolas shot back.

"I tried to help you!" Mary exclaimed, "But you asked me not too! I asked for your help, and you just stood there and watched me get buried alive!"

"Mary," Legolas tried again.

"And even though it was painful no doubt yours was quick! Over an hour I was in that coffin crying and losing air!" At those words Legolas took the hysterical girl in his arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispered "I had to leave you or you would just have to do it over again. I promise, I won't leave you to face something like that alone again."

"A nice promise, but one you may not be able to keep," a teasing voice called. Suddenly the little girl from the beginning of the game appeared to them.

"Two down, good for you!" She giggled, "But there are still two to go, and it's just been brought to my attention that we have a little problem."

"What kind of a problem?" Aragorn asked angrily.

"Ooh, we do have a bit of a temper don't we?" The little girl laughed, "Don't worry Aragorn not your problem, Marial's." The four looked at the girl suspiciously so she continued, "You see, she cheated."

"I did not!" Mary insisted.

"We followed all the rules." Legolas confirmed, "She faced her greatest fear with no help from us."

"Ahh, but did she?" The girl giggled, "no doubt being buried alive rates high up there on your list of fears, Marial, but is it your greatest?" Marial studied the ground, and the little girl giggled uncontrollably.

"That's what I thought. Come on Mary dear, you thought you could cheat the game and now you have to pay the price."

"Where are you taking me?" Mary asked suspiciously, not taking the girls outstretched hand.

"To face your greatest fears," she said in a sing-song voice. She dropped her tone and gazed at Mary darkly, "That, and a bit more."

"Alone?" Mary asked nervously. The girl nodded and Mary gazed at her friends fearfully.

"No," Legolas took a step foreword. "She will not go alone. I have completed my task, I will go with her."

"You are not in any position to make requests Mr. Greenleaf," the girl laughed "After all, this is my game."

"I am going," Legolas said firmly. He then grabbed both the girl and Mary's hand and they disappeared.

**Review!!! Is there a romance spreading between Legolas and Mary (Probably not) what will the last two fears be? And where are they going? What really is Mary's greatest fear?**


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